Khabar, Vasant Ni | Issue 1 | 2021

ISSUE 1 MARCH 2021 VO LU M E 1 PAGES 18

CONTENTS Editor’s Note

1

Khabar, IPSA ni

2

Visual Narratives Scenic Route

3

Khabar, Saurashtra ni

4

Meandering through the Studios

5

Former Fellows IPSA Social

6

Melange 2020

7

Thought-scape

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Cover:

Vasanti Ragini (Garland of Musical Modes) ca. 1710 India, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/73149

આ ડાળ ડાળ જાણે કે રસ્તા વસં ત ના આ ડાળ ડાળ જાણે કે રસ્તા વસં ત ના, ફૂ લોએ બીજુ ં કૈં નથી, પગલાં વસં ત ના. મલયાનિલોની પીંછી ને રં ગો ફૂ લો ના લૈ , દોરી રહ્યું છે કોણ આ નકશા વસં ત ના ! આ એક તારા અં ગે ને બીજો ચમન મહીં, જાણે કે બે પડી ગયા ફાંટા વસં ત ના ! મહેં કી રહી છે મં જ રી એક એક આં સુ મ ાં, મ્હોર્યા છે આજ આં ખ માં આં બ ા વસં ત ના ! ઊઠી રહ્યા છે યાદના અબીલ ને ગુ લ ાલ, હૈ યે થયા છે આજ તો છાંટા વસં ત ના ! ફાંટુ ભરીને સોનું સૂ ર જનું ભરો હવે , પાછા ફરી ન આવશે તડકા વસં ત ના !

Pal Vachhani & Jenish Rathod

- મનોજ ખંડેરિયા

KHABAR is an initiative taken by Indubhai Parekh School of Architecture to engage, debate and disseminate work. All views expressed here are sole responsibility of the author. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted through photocopy, scanning without authorization and prior written permission of the principal, IPSA Rajkot.

TALES FROM PAST

Tales from the durbar of Mehboob-e-Ilaahi Khwaja Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and his exceptional poet Hazrat Amir Khusrow are well recognized in the world of Sufi. One such incident on Vasant Panchmi inspired the gifted poet to compose a beautiful song.

Amir Khusrow saw a group of women adorned with marigolds in yellow attires to celebrate the festival of spring at their temple. This inspired him to charge into a joyous trance amusing the Nizam, with his yellow ghaghra and sarson flowers. He began singing a song that became a symbol for Sufi Basant celebrated in Delhi for over seven centuries...

Photo Credits : Syed Mohammed Qasim

आज बसं त मनाले, सुहागन, आज बसं त मनैअंजन मनजन कर पिया मोरी, लं बाय नेहर लगलै तूं क्या सोवे नी ं की मासी, सो जयगै तेरा भीग, सुहागुन, आजा बसं त मन तोला नाही,ं नाच नाच नाच नाच नाचेगा ... नैना मिलै, सुहागुन, आज बसं त मनाले।

EDITOR’S NOTE

With this first issue of ‘Khabar’, we delightfully present to you the school of architecture newsletter. It has been a difficult time for all of us during the past year with the ongoing pandemic. Moreover, we had a lot of time for introspection. Pulling up our socks and matching pace with time as well as digitization, the school wishes to collectively contribute to the discourse of design practice. Initiated and rooted as the first architecture school in Saurashtra, IPSA always takes pride in its rich historical and cultural repository. After almost two decades since its inception, it seems like a good time to initiate this dialogue as a design school with a larger community. ‘Culture and Creativity’ are two important aspects for the growth of our society. With this intention, we have named our newsletter ‘Khabar’. The themes of our four quarterly issues are based on the distinct climatical divisions that is to say Vasant, Greeshma, Hemant and Shishir.

In this issue, we discuss the activities of the school campus in the past few months, students’ reflection on design, nature and the world through their eyes. Through our articles, we wish to bring in and emphasize our regional culture besides discussing architecture, by encouraging dialogues from all facets of life. We are always grateful to our colleagues, students, alumni, well-wishers for their support and welcome their constructive criticism. Henceforth, we will require all hands on deck to gradually build this engagement, to make it more meaningful and surely these will be interesting times for all of us. Hope to have your continuous support.

See you in our next issue of Khabar, Grishma ni....

Hakimuddin Bharmal

Newsletter Team

Hakimuddin Bharmal

Jayesh Shukla

Devashree Jadeja

KHABAR, IPSA NI

Riddhi Shah | Bhavesh Wadhwani | Devashree Jadeja

The pandemic may have disrupted the regular schedule of school, but everyone is working from ho as per regular timetable. The efforts to move online required engaging with all subjects’ faculty a to complete all academic requirements of current semester. Here’s what the college is up-to...

INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA AND NEPAL

IN-CONVERSATION WITH PROF. CHHAYA ON ESSENCE OF HOME

Since 2020, IPSA has been actively involved as a partner institute in InterNepInd; a European-Asian partnership among Higher Education Institutions in Spain, Portugal, India and Nepal. This program is setup to build, support and share internationalization strategies among its members. It is a step forward in the internationalization of Higher Education Institutions.

“InterNepInd” (https://internepind-eplus.eu/) is a Capacity Building project which aims to support the internationalization process of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India and Nepal, in order to improve the quality of Higher Education and to promote regional and international cooperation.

InterNepInd consortium is integrated by 9 HEIs from Spain, Portugal, India and Nepal, coordinated by Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT, Spain) and integrated by the following partners in addition to IPSA: • • • • • • •

University of Aveiro (UA, Portugal) Sarvajanik College of Engineering &Technology Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College Vivekanand Education Society Institute of Management Shantaben Manubhai Patel School of Studies and Research in Architecture and Interior Design Nepal Engineering College Sagarmatha Engineering College

The internationalization amongst these institutes will benefit students and faculties. It will promote the process for Double Degrees, Joint PhDs, Joint academic activities including e-learning, Virtual Open Dialogues, Collaborative Projects and Internationalization at home.

Design Studio 4 focuses on the concept of people, place and dwellings. It fosters the sense of community dwelling through elements and its making.

Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya is mentoring this studio.

He is an eminent architect and academician. He is also associated with various other design schools in India and to generate insightful themes and connotations of dwellings, he delivered a series of presentations and lectures that ground the studio to the essence of home...

The title of lectures are below: 1. What is dwelling?

2. Where do you dwell?

3. Places in the house 4. Transactions across the limit: the inside & the outside 5. The vocabulary, the grammar & prose of a dwelling 6. Ways of speaking Two programs are offered to the students; one based on the site in Rajkot led by Riddhi Shah and the other in Bhavnagar led by Rupesh Patel and Rushikesh Kotadiya. The site at Rajkot is situated in an urban setting while the one at Bhavnagar is located amidst the historical precinct. Both the programs are running parallel with different approaches and concerns.

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ome to ensure continuity of teaching and learning. We commenced online teaching for all subjects INVENTORY across semesters. In the face of uncertainty ensuing from the ongoing lock-down, IPSA is prepared HISTORICAL BUILDINGS AND SITES

SAURASHTRA, GUJARAT INVENTORY OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS AND SITES OF SAURASHTRA, GUJARAT

Jamnagar

The pioneers of IPSA have always recognized and acknowledged the architectural heritage of the region. One of their mission is to document as well as conduct research on the history of the place and learn from its cultural diversity.

Since its inception in 2000 the faculties and students have been constantly engaged in this mission as a part of their Related Study Programs or Thesis.

20 MARCH 2021

IPSA, recently collaborated with DRONAH Foundation of Gudgaon for preparing an Inventory of Heritage Buildings and Sites of Saurashtra. This inventory is a part of the database being prepared for a research project on Challenges to heritage structures of India by NITI Aayog India. Till date; an inventory of around 400 buildings/sites have been prepared and the list is becoming intense and diverse. Saurashtra is a rich repository of heritage buildings and sites.

The faculty and students’ team at IPSA invoved in preparing the inventory is led by Ar. Riddhi Shah who is deeply interested in history and heritage studies.

The current students, alumni and the library staff are actively involved in contributing to this database. We covered Amreli, Bhavnagar Gir-Somnath, Gondal, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Morbi, Porbandar, Rajkot and Surendranagar. These were then classified based on their building typology, ownership status , date of origin and its current use.

This database is being prepared based on primary visits conducted in the past and the knowledge of certain places from secondary resources. It is notable to mention here that the list for Bhavnagar district was prepared by Kumari Brijeshwari Gohil - the Princess of Bhavnagar; Ar. Devdutt Pandya was pivotal in procuring it and Ar. Nishant Machhar shared with the team IPSA. This gesture opens up an avenue for IPSA to collaborate with the individuals from the local authorities and erstwhile Princely States to work in the areas of heritage preservation.

VISUAL NARRATIVES Bhargav Rajpara

Portrayal of Nyari river along with its depleting resources

This series of documentary photographs is a reflection of our recent interventions in nature. Nyari River which is sufficing the basic needs of our Rajkot city, is also used as dumping grounds by the people living nearby. The photographs depict the effect of it on surrounding lives. It is an attempt to understand how far and how greedy we humans can get. We are always too busy to understand the importance of natural resources and the pandemic has made sure to make us realize that. Not only us but the cattle dependent on these resources are suffering too. Moreover, we will lose our identity, our beloved river and the biodiversity it fosters. The new face of this place and our planet will be scarier than these images.

Cattle who are dependent on Nyari are struggling for survival

Nyari today, has been a stockpile of surrounding waste

Cattle dying on these arid plains

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SCENIC ROUTE Mit Limbad

On reaching Goa, the very first experience I had was that of the taxis being very costly, as Goa is the most visited tourist spot. Soon as I left the airport for Panjim the roads appeared to be very nice, quiet and calm. Rental bikes in Goa are the cheapest mode of transportation for students like us, the very next day I hired a rental bike and went to explore Miramar beach.

Starting from the Dona Paula and ending at Pato bridge I observed that Goa has numerous tall palm trees and can surprise you with its Portuguese colour palette implied on every typical colonial house typology.

As the days passed by I met many locals and gathered a gist of ‘Goan’ culture. There is a juxtaposition of old Portuguese architecture, flavour and lifestyle to its history. Its unending beaches, the pristine beauty of the seascape, its mystical hills and fascinating façades of churches. Goa, geographically is divided into north and south, but from my experience both are as opposite as they sound. While visiting north goa, the most hyped and tourist zone is famous for its beach parties and nightclubs, while being in south goa it sets sail into the most peaceful and harmonious sound of the beaches.

L-R : Butterfly Beach , South Goa Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina, Old Goa

Since I arrived in Goa, this place has not failed to astonish me with its architecture, cuisines, it’s beaches and I hope there is more treasure hidden on my way to explore...

KHABAR, SAURASHTRA NI Devashree Jadeja & Sneha Bhuva

Wandering through the old city of Rajkot near Prahlad plot, Karanpara and Rajputpara one is often amazed at a surprising shift in building typology. Today when we are facing identity crisis of the apartment typology that is rapidly matching up, tucked away in rugged corners are these quaint deco jewels. Art Deco became popular in Europe during late 1920’s and also has unexpectedly extended to a tiny Western city in India.

People have embraced it, by carving their own regional identity within it. Regional Deco hence has become a prominent style in India a few decades later; incorporating traditional iconography with regional climate responsive elements and its European flair.

Art Deco movement in architecture is distinguished from its façades together. It symbolised modernity and showcased an approach of be of a new residential neighbourhood typology with its aspirations roo As Abha Narain Lambah mentioned, this trend came with Bombay’s Parsi industrialists and Royals of the princely states. Bombay deco the city holds one of the largest repositories of Art deco buildings and cultural exchange between Bombay and Saurashtra; until its se unique visual identity to such remote corners of our country.

These very striking structures are located on the most prominent have to infer the vocabulary of Deco elements to recognise these the possibilities of owners aspiration to emulate a particular structu what makes these buildings very unique and fascinating. Sometim this architectural language to its smaller headquarters enabling dec GEC radio. Their iconic art deco magnet houses are situated in Calc we may also find as small office peeking on Dharmendra road. Bein its form and elements, we could identify the ones in Rajkot thro forms like the Green lodge besides Dharmendra road and Dhan continuous cantilevered projections on Canal road, distinct name-p well as numerous geometrical grilles and railings near Karanpara, K surrounded by these structures worthy of being restored and prote for development, let us not get carried away and be more sensitized Unknown, Deco Dekho – Bombay Deco and its Elements 2020 Abha Narain Lambah , Heralding India moderne: Art Deco in Mumbai 2019

and the prominent elements it brings eing ahead of its time. The emergence oted in the West, Deco travelled places. ’s Gujarati and Marwari businessmen, o today has become a movement, as s. Parallel to that a lot of ideological eparation in 1961, has brought in this

t squares in the old city. One would desi European elements because of ure in Bombay; and we believe that’s mes major companies would carry on co on a tour. One such company was cutta and Mumbai, which surprisingly ng immediately recognisable through ough their stream line or elongated nvantri building in Rajputpara, their plates and crowns on Dhebar road as Kaapad bazaar and Danapith. We are ected as heritage; so in our aspiration d towards these remnants of time.

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L- R : Stepped or pyramidal crown as a prominent element in Deco buildings Elaborate corner structures with chevron pattern Ornate metal grilles along with architectural lettering in nameplates B : Metal grill-work on railings & door-windows with geometric patterns

MEANDERING THROUGH STUDIOS Kush Kalavadia, Studio II

| Utsav Bhalani, Studio V

The studio intended to design a pavilion for the people who want to enjoy, engage with nature and to observe how surrounding is responding to one’s personality.

The site was near a lake in Rataiya village of Rajkot.

Natural elements always play a role in defining spaces, like here the cluster of trees, wind from the lakeside, certain undulations on land, gave an expression to nature and challenged the designer. However we had to design by using basic space making elements like wall, column, roof and plinths and then organize them according to principles of design and provide enclosure. We had measured drawn the whole site, stayed there from morning to evening and analysed the site, but then a nation-wide lock down was declared just at the design stage, so it was a challenge for us to design on whatever we had experienced first hand and the drawings we had made. Still, the studio was very interesting, as it focused on why humans require a certain kind of environment and that it is not limited to only architecture of buildings.

Site sections

Site plan

Photographs of model

4 Ajab Shahar Museum, a place to display regional art works in different forms. The museum has to be designed for the exhibition of various artists of Saurashtra. The project involves designing of space to exhibit and learn the works of “Dhatu”, “Mati Kaam”, “Poshak” and “Sahitya”. This time I had a different experience while designing as the studio started off with the contextual analysis where we had to place masses of different volumes and study them in reference to the site. Then to study the volumes introspective of the functions in the program.

Finally, placing all functions on the site and also wanted to make it climate and context responsive. Further, detailing out the design my central idea was to give a magical experience to the spaces as Saurashtra is magical too. Then the end goal was to give a subtle experience of the museum to the user which will submerge with context.

Site plan

Sections

Site section

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

FORMER FELLOWS Ninad Dave (BATCH 2015) My final dissertation proposal focuses on improving the living conditions as well as uplifting the community of migrant construction workers. Through the provision of easily deployable material palette that can be re-used in various conditions these modules contribute to elevate the dwelling typology of construction workers.

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IPSA SOCIAL Darshit Gohel The role of an architect is of social value. With all the knowledge and sensitivity, he must become a bridge between the city and its inhabitants.

With the Melange, every year, an annual forum is organized by the student body to raise awareness and expose students to other disciplines of architecture, this year the forum was devised to introduce certain grass-root practices, which are usually not initiated by most of us, but have a vital role in shaping our society.

Practices working for society brings up discussions on dealing with local bodies & government in their narrative. So, aspects like user participation, culture, and traditions and liveable environment are at the forefront of such practices. Academically, the sense of ‘user’ becomes pivotal to cultivate and refine their design processes. Surrounding these ideas, forum invited people from 3 practices across India.

Including, UDC- which is short for Urban Design Collective. Whose practice is based in Chennai and comprises of architects, urban designers, and planners. Second were Compartment S4, who are based in Ahmedabad; A group of 8 architects from CEPT University, working for the urban poor and in rural landscapes with a wide range of government led initiatives. Finally, Aagaur Studio, a grassroots level design studio based in Bhopal which is led by two individuals committed to working on up-gradation of traditional building crafts.

After a couple of hours on presentation and questions, we noted a few points worthy of discussion and dissemination. An individual’s role, is not towards personal growth, but that of a social nature which brings economic restraints for survival. Coping and growing with it, is a primary learning outcome.

Government and other clientele have an innate feeling of ownership and particular needs, which are not always in accord with the societal norms of design. Bureaucracy often seeps in investments and architecture whose primary stakeholders are people, and they are often neglected.

Vedanti and Prashik of Compartment S4 presenting their work on government led initiative for the betterment of rural Himachal

Tapas from Aagaur studio in conversation about their grass-root level projects

Students and Alumni in discussion on varied approaches adopted by the presenters.

MELANGÉ 2020 Mariah Mustafa | Darshit Gohel

“Culturally and socially the world is in a state of transition - a period of great architectural expression is open to us, a period of analysis and experimentation, a period of transition.”

Jacques Carlu Our Annual festival – Mélange has always been the heart of all the activities, that are conducted over the year. This three-day festival has its spirit, allowing IPSA family to gather along with their excitement and exuberance. Students, for months, had been planning, preparing and working for the event with all the determination, patience, enthusiasm and diligence.

Due to the pandemic, this time for all of us has really been unprecedented and it was no different for everyone else. Adapting to the “New Normal”, the idea for our Mélange also had be thought in an alternate medium. Finally it came down to gathering the IPSA family, online! With the idea that all our alumni, parents, and students sitting on their screens could attend this event. People from far and wide could come and engage with students and the faculties, through lectures, panel discussions, and talk series. The theme of the Melange ’20 was Transition, this paradigm shift that we all are still adjusting to.

In these ever-changing times, we hardly pay any attention to the changes that happen around us. However, when we look from a different perspective, we find that so much has changed and so much has grown.

Growth, that does not strike as hard in the beginning, but hints as we go through transition. All these aspects of our life go on in these distinct phases and it only catches our eye if they are devastatingly beautiful or simply devastating.

The current scenario has made us contemplate over the value of this chance we have been given towards the world and life, as we know it. Thereby, giving all of us an opportunity to thrive with rigour and zeal, in developing a more sensible and humane environment to dwell in.

T - B : The School of Architecture Music Club Ekya rehearsing before their show, The School of Architecture Dance club shot during their performance Drama club Rangmanch posing for their poster shoot B R : Architect Dean D’Cruz in an online conversation of his practice at Mozaic, Goa

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The keynote speaker for Melange ‘20 was architect and professor, Dean D’Cruz. He is a partner and principal architect at Mozaic Design Combine, a leading design firm based in Goa, involved in Urban Intervention, Architecture, Conservation, Product, and Graphic design. The presented work and discussions generated learnings on environment change, simultaneously dealing with construction material transition, from conventional to sustainable modern. An insight into Traditional regional architecture and learnings we can take from those systems for present-day practice. Also, Urban projects like smart city missions, are affecting future cities and the need for sensitivity for those projects was discussed. Further, views on architectural pedagogy, the rift developed between practice vs. academics, and how that will affect economics and dynamics of the built environment.

Continuing the legacy of the school of architecture club events, dance, music, and drama performances were presented by the students, recorded beforehand, with devotional hard work and immense participation.

Change the unchanged past_Melange.

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THOUGHT-SCAPE Jayesh Shukla

Kabir Series by Jayesh Shukla Medium: Water colour and pen on paper

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